Water-wheel-speed increaser.



W. M. WHITE.

WATER WHEEL SPEED INCREASER. APPLICATION man AUG.20, m3- nzucwzn JAN. 25. 1911'.

Patented Apr. 24

3 SHEETS-SHEET I W. M. WHITE.

WATER WHEEL SPEED INCREASER. V APPLICATION FILED AUG.20, 1913. RENEWED JANLZS. 1911.

7 Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEEI 3- Cit WILLIAM M. WHITE, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

WATER-WHEEL-SPEED INCREASER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

Application filed August 20, 1913, Serial No. 785,657. Renewed January 25, 1917. Serial No. 144,548.

To all whom it may] cmwern:

lie it known that l. \VHJJAM M. lVnrrn, a ritizen ol the United States, and resident of lllilwaukee. in. the eounty of Milwaukee and State ot \Viseonsin. have invented eertain new and usetul Improvements in \Vater- \l'heehtipeed lnereasers, of whieh the following is a s u eitiratirm.

My invention relates to speed ,inereasers for installation in water power plants. The devire eonsists ol a revolving element 10 eated at the discharge ot' a water wheel 1'un ner through whirl: the water from the runner is diseharged.

Somewhat similar apparatus is disclosed in my eo-peiuling applications Serial Nos. Tt'dLTtlt) and 761L7 1. tiled May ill. 1913: 774,527, filed June it 1913; 7337.952, filed ()et. 29, 1913 and SUHJM, tiled Der. 32, 1913. These applieations tllrst'ltli and rlaiin apparatus in whieh fixed passages are loeated at the diseharn'e ot a water wheel tor regaining energy in the torni'oi veloeit-y. in in eo-pending applieation Til-.528. l have dis ('losed and rlainied a method of rarrying out the steps neeessary to retrain this power.

In the easesah'ove referred to and in the present ease this regaining aetion is aeronrplished in :u-eordauee wit-h liernouillfs law whieh is stated on page 76 0t Treatise on llj/ftl'llflll fls" hy Merrilnan, edition oi 1903, as tollo\\'sI At any seetion of a tulie or pipe. under steady tlow without trietion, the pressure head plus the veloeity head is equal to the. lrvdrostatir head that ohtains when there. is no flow.

As rerited above. the veloeity o't' llow from the runner is necessarily made great For the, reasons given. The velocity head plus the pressure headat the. runner would he equal to the veloeity head plus the pressure head in the tail rare at the same level negrlm'tinn- 'lrietion and eddy losses. The veloeity head at disehargeoi the runner is sometimes made a large pert-outage. ot the total head aeting on the plant, say, for example, 20%. The draft tuhe is usually (it inereasingraparity with the object of decreasing the. veloeity so that the velocity and consequently the kinetic energy will he low in the tail rare. For example. this velocity head oi the water in the. tail rare is usually as low as tV t. Now :u-eording to Bernouilli and in aeeordam'e with continuing experiments made by me, and negleet ug' friction, the

pressure head plus the 20% velocity head at the runner would be equal to the pressure head plus the 3)?- velocity head in the tail race or, in other words, in this also the pressure head (or equivalent free water surface) at the runner would he 17% of the total head less than or lower than) the pressure head (or surface of) the tail water at the end of the draft tube. For example, should the head on a water power plant he twenty feet from the snrtaee of the water above the plant to the surface of the water in the tail rat-e. then, negleeting friction. and in aeeordanee with the above example the equivalent surtaee of the water at the runner would he 3 and {Ellis feet helow the surface of the tail water. 111 other words, the eit'eotive head on the water wheel producing flow through it would be 23 and ,t ths feet.

In the usual power plant the water wheel is fitted with adrat't tube or pipe which reeeives the water diseharged from the runner and eonveys it to the tail race \"hen the water wheel is allowed to run at a greater speed than tint tor hest ellieieney tor the given head there is an exress energy in the water discharged fI'UIlt the water wheel \Ylllt'll goes to waste int-he form of eddies and whirls in the draft tube. This will he more readily understood when one considers the eonstrnetion and operation of a water wheel runner.

The runner is fitted with numerous vanes or blades shaped to form easy water passages hetween then]. \Vater is guided into the runner to 'ard the center with a rotary motion by means of guide vanes which are usually pivoted and tltljllSttllllt-L The runner.

vanes are. eonstrueted to reeeive the water from the guide. vanes with least disturbance,

and to ehange the direction of the. water. as it flows through the. runner so that the Water is diseharged from the runner in adirection ("Hm-dill} to that of the rotation of the runner.

The water passages formed by the guide vanes and the runner 'anes are so related that for given conditions of power, speed, and 11 ad. at maximum etlioiency the water is discharged from the runner practically straight out axially from the runner, that is, without rotary motion. Under this condition least energy is allowed to escape from the. runner aiul greatest efiioieney developed. \Vhen, however, the speed of the runner is increased under the given conditions of revolving impeller fitted with vanes formmg passages for discharging the water from the runner. The impeller revolves in the same'direction as the water wheel runner. and thus the. passages in the impeller formed to receive the water from the runner are moving in the same direction as' the runner itself, and this permits of operatingth'e war ter wheel runner with a greater whirling or rotary motion of the water flowing from it.

The speed of the water wheel for a given power is dependent upon the head of water acting on it. Technically the speed of a given water wheel varies as the square root of the head, I now increase the effective head acting on the runner by means of the revolving impeller, which receives and utilizes water in whirling motion froinfthe runner. Thus by increase of headby means of the utilization of the energy of the water discharged from the runner in a rotary motion. I am enabled to incruise the speed of the wheel. The power is also greatly increased by the increase of head on the runner. Technically the power of a given water wheel varies as the three-halves power of the head. By inducing a greater head I am onabled toredncethesize of the w] .el ,for a given power.

But the speed of a water wheel variesinversely as its size. and thus by increasing the head by providing in ans for utilizing whirling Wilttl' from the runner and reducing the size of the wheel. I. am enabled to greatly increase the speed of the water wheel for a given power.

I use the energy in the whirling watcr discharged from the runner for driving tho impeller,'and on account of the disposition of the vanes in the. impeller it acts similar to the impeller of a centrifugal pump and discharges the waterfiowing through it against a g'rcatc 1 head than cxistsat the discharge of the water wheel. I thus. in effect. lower the level otXthc water at the discharge of the water wheel below the level of the water in the tail rat'c. and increase the cfi'cctivchead acting on the water wheel 11.. s

An explanation of thc'action withiugdtlio. revolvingimpeller by which this result 'is accomp li" d is as follows: (liven an operat ing head com head watcr to tail water of twenty et" suppose the water whccl runner to "be iolving with such speed as to discharge the water from it at such velocity that the kinetic energy in the ator is equivalent to one-half the fall. that is, ten feet. The vanes of the revolving impeller are so shaped as to intercept the water dischar ed at high velocity from the water whee runner and direct the same into the impeller with least loss. The vancs'of the impeller are shaped at the outlet so that the water is discharged baclnvard relative to the impeller with such velocity relative to the impeller that the outward velocity (relative to the stationarv turbino parts) is so small that the kinetic clurrgy of the water at this velocity is only a small portion of the total head of twenty feet. In other words. it is feasible to shape the vancs of the impellcr so that the. force consumed within the impeller in this cxamplc is nearly onc-halt of the fall of twenty feet. By selecting the proper radial depth of lllt' impcllcr and the proper curvature of the vanes of the runner the centrifugal force of the water between the vanes may bc a considcin-ililc portion of the total fall (of twruty t'ect in the above example). and this ccmriiugal force is zhc tlllltltllt'c in prcssurc lactwccn the eye of the impellcr nd lhc periphery of the impeller. As stated above. lllt' impeller in this cxampie consumes ucarly one-half of the energy of (befall and this energy is consumed first. in discharging the. quantity of water flowing through the runner againstthe difference in head between the eye of the. impeller and the periphery of the impeller. and second, in friction loss within the impeller. The eye of thc impeller is usually considered that portion of the impeller immediately below thc .runncr as shown in the. drawii'iqs and inside the inner ends of the impel er vanes. As the pressure at the periphery of the impcllcr is substantially the same as that of the tail race it follows that the dificrcnce in prcssurc bctwccn thc head water anll the rye of illt impcllcr (or discharge of the runncr) is greater than the available fall of twenty fcct in the above example. It should be understood that the turbine: is not de-- vclopiug increased power in proportion to the increase of head acting on it as a large portion of thecnergy of the fallis dis charged from the runner in the form'of velocity. The total power plant cfiicienc'y will be. less by the use of the impeller as'desc'ribed but. for this reduction in total plant cfiicicncy illcl'c is obtained a greater speed and in some cases a greater power than there would be without. it. It is by the. above action that I maintain a greater eflectivehead.

on the water wheel than the available fall.

' By ctl'cctive head I mcan the head causing flow through the runner. By rcasomof the greater ctl'ective head a greater quantity of water iscauscd to How through the water wheel. The losses by friction (water and.

mechanical) in the impeller plus the addiparts; being supported by a thrust bearing us. The revolvnig nupellerll' Ba located at the difwharge of the water wheel runner;

- from the impeller tip at 20. outward to the discharge at 1. The shaft 1:2 of the impeller, 17 is supported in an upper guide hearing 9. and lower guide bearing :34. The impeller held in position vertically in" means of an upper 'llltlis't hearing :25, and a lower thrust hearing '26. The guide hearings and thrust hearings are supported in a frame casting: 27. The water over the wheel ehamher at :28 is directed through the guide. vanes 12 toward the. center of the runner 13 with a rotary mo lion. The runner 1 is allowed to run at. ater speed than that at which it would i for maximum etlieieuev tlic :rnpower and head. The water lcaviiw' the runner vanes at :39. '10. ii. has a rotary motion in the direction of the I'tr taiiou of the. runner. and eoutaius ('ruif 'ide1'- ahle energy. These will be more readil un derstood by IEftIIillgL" to arrows 3:. and 3:3 in l he water from the runner enters the impeller between the vanes 18 at 1-H. and on account of its velocity drives the impeller. The water being confined between the vane 18 is given rotammotion as it flows from 3% to to 36 to 3T. lhe guide vanes in the impeller are directed. lmekward opposite to the rotation of the impeller as shown at 3T. Fig. 2, and as water flows from the. impeller its reaction is such as to also cause the impeller to revolve. The rotary or spiral motion of the water in passing from ill to 35 to 2-36 to 3? is such that. the centrifugal forei- 'prodm-es a dili'erenre of pleasure between paee'below the runner at 2-353 and the just beyond the impeller at 3 this in 'cil'eet. decreasing the level of the water in. the (lialnber 33 below the level of thei-wvater in the tail rare ll. The water is discharged from the impeller with some tangential motion and the vclovity of the mm. is deereaswd in flowing through the hauila-r l9 and its energy changed from velocity at 20 to presaure at it. wherelrv a greater head in made available for the increase of sp ed of the wheel. and speed I locate guide vanes it. in the passage disposed at the (iii-Hung? of the inipellcr.

By reference to Fig. 3. it will he noted that connections are shown flu-theinter-exchange of power. The pulley 0 in located on the shaft of the impeller by which power may he delivered from the impeller 4'}; An intermediate shaft. 61 is fitted with pulleys (i2 and (53. A pulley i4 is located on the water wheel shaft. A belt connects pulleys (it) and 62, and a belt. '66 connects pulleys 63 For certain conditions of po\\tt' wafer wheel shaft and from the water wheel shaft to the generator, and by the same arrangement of belts and pulleys power may be taken from the water wheel runner shaft and utilized for drivin g the impeller.

In Fig. 3 I have shownan arrangement of a horizontal water wheel equipped with the revolving impeller. In this arrangement a eircular section plate steel spiral casing 41. is fitted about the guide vanes 42 of the turhine. Water flows through the pipe 41 to the guide vanes 42 into the runner 43, and into the revolving impeller 44. at 15. The impeller 44 is fitted with guide vanes 46, located between the crowns 4T, 48, forming curved passages. The velocity of the water drives the impeller which gives a rotary motion to the. water within the pas ages. This rotary motion produces centrifugal force which drives the water out of the impellet at 49. against a greater pressure than exists atthe discharge of the water wheel runner. The water discharged from the impeller has: considerable velocity and iassos hetwecn the vanes 50, located outsi ethe. impeller. T he vanes 50 form passages of expanding area in which the. energy of the water is changed frm velocity into pressure.

The water flowsat low velocity through the plate steel spiral casing 51, through a draft pipe into the tail race.

Bearings 52, are provided to supportth' shaft 53 and runner 43. Bearings are also provided to support the shaft 54 and 1mpeller 4-1. Shilling boxes 56, are located in the casing heads of the water wheel and impeller.

In llllS arrangement each guidevane 42 ha an extended shaft 5T.'to which 15 fitted a lever 53. the levers of all the guide vanes being operated by a shifting ring 59, by

for driving: a hi h s eed horizontal enzb I orator.

Fig. A is a cross section through the vanes of the impeller and through the vanes formin{ passages for regaining the energy from the impeller. The guide vanes 46 of the impeller are of curved section: the stationary guide vanes 50 form a plurality of passages of increasing area from the impeller outward.

By water wheel under the present speeh tieatiou and elainis. 1 mean a water wheel. hydraulic turbine or any hydraulic power producing apparatus having, a runner of Such form as to *ause the water to be discharged from it preferably axially to the rotation of-therunner. and 1 mean especially an hydraulic power a pparat-us which may he used with my invention for, the accomplishment of the results elaini'ed- -One type of a water wheel in the meaning of the specitimtionailid filt'llli'lf-l is; illustrated in the drawings.

I claim:

1.. The combination of a water wheel and a revoluble inqfieller nionntei'l for rotation. in the same iilll'tihllillll as said water wheel fitted with ranes iifil'llllllf passages; to releive the water from the water wheel run ner, the in'ipeller being driven by such water, the vanes of Said impeller extenitling outwardly from the mentor and maintaining a rotary motion in the water in the impeller creating centrifugal force to increase the effective head acting; on the water wheel, substantially as described 2; The combination of a water wheel and and stationary vanes lorated at the dia charge of said impeller forming passages of -inereas1ng capacity whereby the energy of the water delivered from said impeller is transformed from velocity into pressure, substantially as desrrihed.

4h The rombin ion of aarater wheel, a. revolnhle imp lhr ii d at the diiwharge of said water wheel. i .id inri ller heingz; fitted with vanes forming passe-men it: the water from the axles wheel runrn r, such Tanea be ng disposed no as to give rotary motion to the water llowing through the im-- pellrr. means providing: an annula passage about said impell r. ran-h annular passage increasing in volume from the impeller wheel outwardly whereby the energy of the water discharged from the impeller is transformed from vehieitjy lTl tOjll'QSSllfl-B, the pressure maintained at the discharge of the ann'nlar passage being greater than that ex isting at the diaiiharge of the water wheel, substantially a5! desrribed;

5. In "ater wheol ronstrnrti on, the roar bination of a water wlivi-l :lnd a rrvolnble impeller rewiring and driven by discharge water from the water whreh-said impeller ll(lll,{.]ll'0llllt((l for rotation in the same dirertion as that of said water wheel and pro \idi-d \vithfllregaining paHsagi-s disposed about the eye'of the impeller.

6. ln a-wa er wheel oonstrurtion. tho (Ollibination'of water wheel and rorolublo impeller roneivi 1g and driven by the disvharge water .from 't'heiwater wheel, said impeller watei' 'lroni axial to being mounted for rotation in the same direction as that of said water wheel and pro- -vidrd with passages for discharging thev water in a direction opposite to that (it the water wlieeh said barkward disrharggje set ring up within the im wllrr rvntrifugal tori-r to redure the pressure at the dim-barge point at said water wheel.

7. The combination with a water wherh of a revoluble impeller disposed ventrally at the dist-barge ot' saidnvalii-r wheel; said impellrr delierting the water flowing from the water wheel 'lroin axial to substantially radial direction of How. and vanes lorated in said impeller between \\'lll('li the 'ater is (-aused to {)HHH substantially as (lvarribed.

S. The rombination with a ater wheeh' oi a rerolublr impeller dispoeed ventrally with relation to the axis of the water wheel, said iiupellrr titted with .iiiltb' l'orniing pa sages through whirl: the water from mid water wheel is rausrd lo i'lovc in a radial dirertion. sulmtantinily llfii-.('i llllii,

ll. The rombiiiation ith a. water wheel, of a reroluble impeller dispos d ientrally with relation to the axle of said. water wheel, said impeller having; an iinpii inn; surface unobstructed at he are and t'lted with vanes disposed about eye to form outwardly extending regaining ausa-1m through which the water is caused to pa a 10. The roinhination with a water wheel, of a revolnble impeller ziirapoaral ventrally with relation to the axis of lhe water wheel, said impeller titted a". l vanes forming ontwardly extending; mid lliil ii llll' disposed to deilrrt t on of tiow of the a a rd extending llirouh the outinitially as and? ii-Wilt war lly extruding m desi-rihed.

ll. 'l hr rombinai of a rei'oluble inn with a water wheel, er disposed ventrally with relation to thein oi the water wheel, said impeller littrd r. if vanes forming outwardly extending passages said impeller disposed to dvtlert in the dirertion of How of the water from axial to outward How in all (lllHtlUllH and disrharge the water through the outwardly extending passages whereby the energy in the whirling water from the water wheel runner may produre in the impeller rentri't'ugal i orro for derrrasing the prossurrat the dim-bargeot the water wheel, substantially as described. l

12. in a water wheel ronstrurtion; the ronibination oi a water wheel and a rotary impeller revolving and driven by the disrharge water from the wheel. said impeller 13. The combination with a water wheel,

impeller and discharging the water from the of a rotary impeller driven by'the discharge water from the wheel and operating to increase the head on the water wheel, and means for retarding the speed of the impeller to decrease the head increasing action of said impeller.

14. The combination with a water wheel, of a revoluble' impeller fitted with vanes forming passages through which the water from the wheel is discharged, said vanes 'be ing backwardly curved adjacent the outlet of the impeller to discharge the water therefrom in a direction opposite to that of the impeller at such back-ward velocity relative to the velocity of the water as it leaves the water wheel as to create centrifugal force in the water passing through the impeller greater than that in the discharge water leaving the wheel and thereby producing a greater pressnre in the Water ,discharged from the impeller than that in the discharge water entering it to thereby increase the effective head of water on thevvheel.

iaaspga dis osed adjacent the discharge of said impel er whereby the remaining kinetic energy is transtprlned into pressure energy-to fur ther increase the efiective head of Water act-3 16. Thec6ifibinati0li of a water wheel and;

ing on the wheel.

a rotary impellerv mounted coaxially. thereto and independently thereof to receive and driven by thewater discharging from the :2

water wheel, said impeller having regaine'r water passages disposed to drive the 'im-' pelle'r in-the same direction as that of the We e- WILLIAM .M, WHITE. Witnesses;

'CHASJE. MURRAY,

M. A. Kmnm. 

